And They Got Together
by Irys123
Summary: This is it! A short telling of how it finally happened, how Lily Evans and James Potter came together.
1. Chapter 1 And They Got Together

"Let GO of me Potter!" James' face turned more determined as the girl he had slung over his back continued to squirm and yell. He didn't reply, but kept walking resolutely.  
  
"I am NOT a sack of potat-- OH." He had given her a smart rap on the behind with his free hand to shut her up.  
  
"I can't BELIEVE you!" He did it again, and she fell silent. He could feel the anger radiating however and grinned. If there was one thing he had always enjoyed about Lily Evans, it was that she had the spirit to match her red hair.  
  
He continued to walk on through the Hogwarts grounds. He could feel her cooling off now that she was silent, and he shifted her light weight on his shoulder. He continued to tread with muddy feet. He looked around, trying to see through the dark veil of night. The castle was still a ways. He groaned inwardly. The sooner he took her to the castle, the sooner he would have to relinquish his hold on the girl that to him, had been so untouchable. "In fact, if it weren't for the way I'm man-handling her, she still would be," he snorted as he thought to himself.  
  
The fact that she was sopping wet from her tumble into the lake wasn't helping his grip on her. "Tumble? Hah! She dove in deliberately, the ninny!" Not to mention it, being November, had proved to make it so cold he thought the blood circulating beneath his skin was freezing. He felt Lily's body begin to shake softly and knew she was shivering. "Sod it," he told himself as he noticed the Gameskeeper's Cabin not far off.  
  
"P-P-Potter, N-No," he heard Lily's voice, no less angry, but softer when cold, shiver as she spoke. "You'll g-g-get us b-b-oth in t-t-t-rouble."  
  
"Hush up there Evans, and cover your head, your body heat is leaking out." He had reached the cabin, and with out putting her down, circled it, looking for signs of the Groundskeeper inside. It was dark, and he peeked in a none-to-tidily shut window and saw nothing. "Good enough for me," he told himself and went to the door. He didn't even bother whipping out his wand, instead he pulled out what looked to be a muggle pocketknife and inserted it in the lock. The door swung open and he stepped into the darkness.  
  
For a minute, he could see nothing in front of him, still not wanting to put Lily Evans down, he knew she'd bolt, he slipped the lock pick back into his robe pocket and withdrew his wand. "Lumos," he said and felt Lily give a slight jump. "Just a little light, Evans."  
  
"I know you dolt. Put me d-d-own" she said, still shivering a bit. His brow creased with worry until he heard her add, "And stop calling me Evans."  
  
"Just thought I'd return the favor. You started it after all, calling me Potter." He said trying not to let her hear his smile.  
  
"Quite a different m-matter," she said huffily. He slapped her on the bottom again, this time because he wanted to and knew he could.  
  
He set her down on the floor by a huge bed, that had been hastily made. There wasn't a trace of anyone else, and James was grateful. "Probably one of his forest adventures. He'll show up sometime in the next day or two." he told himself. Looking around and noticing that a hook where a lantern would hang, was empty and knew he was right. He was fond of the rather large Hagrid, and even more grateful to him for his peculiar disappearances into the forest for days at a time.  
  
He saw Lily make for the door and caught her around the waist, "Nice try." He picked her up and set her down by the bed again. "Strip."  
  
He saw the look in her eyes become wild, and allowed himself a moment to enjoy it before adding, "you're sopping wet, and trust me when I say, you're not going back out into the cold until I've seen to it that you're well enough to leave."  
  
"You must be joking. I always thought you to be rather arrogant James Potter, but never did I imagine you were THIS daft. Like I told you, I'm from a colder region of England, and I enjoy refreshing dips into cool waters."  
  
"You must not be as intelligent as I thought if you think I'm going to budge an inch on this." He hands hung at his side, but he knew she saw how serious he was. "Here you go DARLING," he emphasized the last word so that her face colored and his grin broadened.  
  
"I always knew you were one for torturing those smaller than you." She spat this at him and he was reminded of her seven year hatred towards him.  
  
Now it was his face that colored as he answered her, taking care to put a lightness in his voice to hide his injury, "That's enough out of you brat. Yes, you're a brat, even if you're a damn fine one and I admire you greatly. When you're not being a brat of course. Now, strip."  
  
The look she shot at him was pure venom and he saw her reaching quickly into her robes. "Tsk Tsk," he said. He pulled her wand handle out of his robes just enough for her to recognize it as her own. "I carried you up here, didn't I? If I can catch a snitch, I can knick a wand easy enough."  
  
If he had thought her look before this was poison, surely this one was meant to turn him to stone. He grinned inspite of himself, yes, he did like that fire. She was the only girl he knew who'd pay to kick his teeth in, and for some reason, that intrigued him. "Strip." 


	2. Chapter 2 And They Got Together

She looked at him with hatred and he looked right back steadily. His insides lurched pleasantly as he thought to take another tack. He withdrew his own wand from his pocket again and brandished it like a champion. "I can disrobe you myself, if you need a hand."  
  
Her face turned utterly white, but the fire never left her eyes.  
  
"The sooner you listen to me, and accept that I know what's best for you" he missed the look she threw him at this comment, "the sooner I can. warm you up." The look of wildness returned to her face and she took an involuntary step back. He hadn't meant to scare her, after all he was only HALF serious and so he added, "and you can leave."  
  
With this she turned her back on him resolutely and peeled her sopping robes off of her shoulders, letting them drop in a thud to the ground. She missed the look of interest he had while he surveyed her perfect shoulders through the wet t-shirt she wore underneath. He supposed that she was lucky she couldn't see the less-than-wholesome look on his face as his eyes traced the parts of her back where her shirt hung wetly to her skin. With out turning, she began to lift her shirt over her head. James knew exactly what he was, a seventeen year old boy, and didn't even try to make himself turn his head. His bad deeds were rewarded with the gossamer skin of Lily Evans back, whining wet above the waistline of her pants. He saw her arms reach down to slide off her pants and now he shivered. He afforded himself one more look of her standing in her bra and panties, back to him, and then he quickly turned away. "I do have some decency," he told himself, but knew that his action stemmed not from his decency, but from how he knew he had thought of her for so long. He had needed to, in order to keep his intentions to what they were when he first picked her up, honorable.  
  
His knees, the knees that had never failed to hold him to his broomstick, nearly buckled when he heard what sounded suspiciously like a wet bra hitting the floor. With effort, for more than one reason, he walked across the room and grabbed a blanket that was hanging from the wall. He backed up towards the bed, feeling behind him, trying not to think too much. He shoved his hand out behind him, blanket extended towards Lily. He was stunned almost to reverence when she didn't snatch it out of his hand immediately. He heard her walk primly towards him, and envisioned her as she must have been, head held high, naked-well-- glistening as she must have been as she walked towards him like a goddess. He knew what kind of brass Lily Evans had to have, to take this with any decorum. She lightly took the blanket from his outstretched, now slightly quivering hand and it was HE who snatched his own hand back, almost as though it were on fire. "Bloody hell, what is she doing? She is only a girl." The inner voice in his head then added, "And by God, I'm only a man." He composed himself by walking towards the unlit fireplace to warm up the flat. He took out his wand and muttered an incantation to start a fire blazing.  
  
He shut all of the curtains closely, so that not a fraction of light would escape, and made sure to lock both doors in the room. By the time he set a kettle of water on to boil, he had composed himself.  
  
"Took that like a champ. Atta-girl." He said to her. His voice almost quavered however when he chanced a glance. Whatever composure he thought he had gained, he felt flitter away as his fingers and toes went numb. He saw Lily sitting primly, in the center of the bed, wrapped in a blanket that showed her bare shoulders and glistening locks of wet hair. She radiated a confidence that told him, she could own any situation.  
  
"Yes well, I thought I'd set an example. Build up the company I'm with, even if it isn't of my choosing, rather than sink to. well your depths." She said this with out the hint of a smile, and her bright green eyes glinted.  
  
"Touche." He merely said. It took everything he had to walk nearer to her to pick up her articles of clothing off of the floor. He threw them non- too neatly as best he could near the hearth of the fire so they could dry. He couldn't bear to wring out her under articles and clothing that had just left her skin, and so he didn't do the job as properly as he should have.  
  
He heard her get up and walk towards him. No, it became clear she wasn't walking towards him, but towards her clothes and the fire. "For having such a fine eye for Quidditch James, you have a terrible way about a house, don't you?"  
  
For the first time since he could remember, he was speechless. The combination of her constant wit and vivacity, coupled with her current state of dress, overcame him. He didn't answer but watched her wring her things out moodily.  
  
"Quiet now, are we? What's the matter Potter, now that you're done saving your unwilling Damsel, you've been deflated?" She said this with less ice than previously, though he couldn't tell as he stared transfixed.  
  
"I-- ah. Well, Evans, you seem to be the bossy sort, thought I'd wait for you to command me about, as I'm sure you will." He thought he did a good job of it and sat smugly.  
  
"Bossy am I? Then again, bossy might seem like another word for competence, from one who can not move a toe without Sirius Black at his side."  
  
He blushed so thoroughly that he thought even the tips of his untidy hair must be red. He nearly jumped out of his chair as she took another near his, at the table. He covered this by moving to stoke the fire. He then rummaged around for a few cups and saucers, some cream and sugar. He took the boiling kettle from the water and poured it into two cups. He sat down and added a tea bag to each.  
  
"Cream?" 


	3. Chapter 3 And They Got Together

"Yes, thank you," she replied regally.  
  
He couldn't help but show satisfaction at her look of undignified surprise as he shoved the cream towards her. "Serves her right." He stopped mid thought as he felt uncomfortably in less control of his already waning good intentions while he watched her bathed in the firelight. The tips of her red hair were beginning to dry and curl slightly. A blowsy piece had fallen in front of her eyes as she reached for the cream with resignation.  
  
They sipped their tea in silence for a while before she broke in, "What now Potter?"  
  
"Your things aren't dry yet Evans, take a nap."  
  
"I told you not to call me Evans," she snapped.  
  
He looked at her curiously and wondered why she had suddenly turned waspish, "And I told you, that I was merely returning the favor."  
  
She said nothing but made to move for the vast bed.  
  
"What are you doing?" he said, his mind leaping to something else.  
  
"You told me to take a nap, oh your Imperiousness. I had nothing else to do. Would you like to read me a story, since you insist on parenting me around?" She smiled at him sweetly, but he didn't miss the slap.  
  
After she had settled in, he looked around for a crude book. Finding nothing he dragged a chair to the side of the bed and cleared his throat.  
  
She looked at him somewhat alarmed and said, "What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Telling you a story, Lily." He emphasized her name, trying to make it sound like a caress. He wasn't sure if it had worked as a look of mixed anxiousness and anger crossed her face. "What are you so afraid of anyway?"  
  
"I know your reputation James Potter. And while I am not a beauty like the type that seem to flock towards you, I know you well enough to know that you'd use anyone for your purposes and have no qualms about leaving her with the repercussions."  
  
James sat, absolutely floored. She thought him a womanizer? A man who uses woman at his disposal and walks away? And had she said, she wasn't a beauty? His eyes clouded over. In the most honest voice he had ever used he said, "Lily Evans, you are the most beautiful creature in existence. Your hair looks as though it has had an everlasting kiss from the sun. Your eyes are so bright, I think they see through me. There hasn't been a day that has gone by since I have been here, that my eyes have not sought you out. Your very figure has become so familiar to me, that I would be lost with out searching for it in a crowd. You are the smartest girl I have ever seen. Not only do I envy you your intelligence, but your morals are beyond reproach and I have thought of nothing but, nearly since the first moment I saw you."  
  
He felt bewildered as he looked at her face, and she was looking at him with disbelief.  
  
"Liar," she whispered.  
  
This one word stung him like a whip, and his eyes nearly watered. She didn't stop there, "All of the girls talk about you, I know what they say-- "  
  
He stopped her before he became too hurt to continue, "That's just it Lily. It's talk. When have you ever seen me--" he trailed off.  
  
She however, sped forward, "They aren't the kind of things you see, those stories are always in dark places- like-- like this!"  
  
He shook his head at her, his fury and hurt was mounting so quickly he felt hot tears forming. "I have never, I assure you Madame, done this before. If those things you believed were true, WERE true, why would I have seen you lose your mind and decide to swim in Novemeber? Why would I have been following you, watching you, if I had a desire to be with someone else? Why do you hate me? All I have ever done, stupid or not, as been to get you to look at me with something other than disgust on your face."  
  
Now she looked shocked.  
  
He stood and made to leave, and turned quickly to hide the hot tears that fell from his face. "I'm sorry, I will not bother you again, since I now know what you think of me. I'm most certain that once your clothes dry, you can make it to the castle of your own accord." He placed her wand gently on the table and made to leave for the door.  
  
"Stop!" he heard her voice cry out from behind him, and then unmistakably, the patter of her feet towards him. "Please James, stop."  
  
He stopped more because she had said his name, than because she had asked it of him. He however did not look at her, but at the ceiling. He knew his face was red, and traces of tears were still fresh.  
  
"You-- I'm so sorry." She began. One of her small hands reached up to wipe the tear streaks from his cheeks, her palm warm against his face. "I didn't know. Don't leave. You can't. You owe me a story. Don't leave me hear alone."  
  
He wasn't sure if his heart or his resolution broke first, but he knew when he was a beat man. He followed her silently to the bed and waited as she snuggled into it. He watched helplessly as her now almost dry hair, surrounded her like live flames, and her eyes shone like raw emeralds. The alabaster expanses of her shoulders were peeking out from above the blanket she still held around herself, and the cloth dipped from where she had freed an arm to wipe his tears. He followed the dipping cloth lower until he burned so thoroughly he forced himself to look away. He was sure she hadn't missed his ogling her this time. Thankfully, she didn't say anything.  
  
She did however say, "My story? How is a girl to nap in an unfamiliar bed, in a room she should not be in?"  
  
He nearly laughed, and cleared his throat. He mounted all of the courage that he could as he turned towards her again. To guard himself against the unseen force that drew him to her, however, he had his eyes closed shut. "Once a long time ago." he began, but she interrupted him.  
  
"Why are your eyes closed? You profess these things, and then you won't look at me to prove them?" He knew by the tone in her voice that now, she was toying with him.  
  
"I, and you, I am certain would much prefer if I kept them closed. I do not want to be the monster you think me to be."  
  
When he heard no answer he continued on, "and there was a small girl, with flaming red hair and plump rosy cheeks--" he stopped as he heard the bed rustling, but forced himself to continue on, "and she lived in a castle by a very cold lake, in which she loved to sw--" his words were cut off by a light brush of soft lips against his open mouth. He dared not open his eyes. He tried to continue on, but the brush came again, more pressing this time.  
  
He felt his heart drop to his feet, and he forced his arms to hang still. "Lily, please-- you don't want this. You hate me. Why are you doing this?" He used every ounce of the small bit of soul that she had not claimed, to say this.  
  
"I knew you meant what you said James Potter, when you left my wand." And with that he opened his eyes in time to see her face sweeping towards him again, her eyes intent on his, her lips looking achingly sweet and her cheeks pleasantly flushed. He looked into her eyes as her lips met his again, and this time, he could not tell himself not to give in. He deepened the kiss and drew his tongue across her lips until they parted. She gasped softly and he pushed, furthering the progress of his tongue until it had slipped entirely inside her mouth. He thought he would faint with the heat radiating from her body and the pleasure he felt at having this from her. His tongue swirled and expertly moved with in her mouth. He continued to further his kiss, feeling as though he wanted every ounce of her, until she broke away gasping for air. 


	4. Chapter 4 And They Got Together

He moved back uncomfortably in his chair, she was nearly in his lap and he thought for sure that he had ruined things. He looked at her, almost not daring to hope when she said, "What's the matter with you James Potter?" and his hands began to shake as she added, "Why won't you wrap your arms around me and hold me properly?"  
  
It was more invitation than he needed, and more will than he could muster to deny her request. He stood and lifted her blanketed form and placed it neatly on the bed. He knew that should that cloth come unfurled, it would be his undoing, and so instead, he moved to lay over her, keeping the blanket pressed firmly between them. He reached an arm under her as he moved in to kiss her. He kissed from one tip of her shoulder to the other. He smothered her neck, and nearly died when she moaned. He found a place on her neck, just below her jaw line, where he would delve his tongue and her body would shiver. She kept pleading for his mouth to rejoin hers, but he had meant to show her some of the pain she had shown him for seven years. More than that, he rather liked torturing and teasing this, his girl. "My girl," he wondered, "will she be my girl when this is all over? Will she still like me? Or will she hate me?"  
  
He lost all thought when she freed both arms to wrap around his neck, grabbing his hair to force him towards her lips. He felt her legs squirming underneath him to get a better hold, he knew any second she was going to uncover herself completely and wrap every arm and leg she could around him. This thought startled him so much, that he meant to act on it, that was, before she reached her goal and her lips met his. And he was lost.  
  
The kiss that she gave him started his very blood to boil. She was sucking on his bottom lip, then using her tongue, prying her way into his mouth. He gasped as it opened and hers darted in with a passion that had always drawn him to her. Had he known that the fire he so admired for all of those years, would one day reward him like this, he felt as though he might have born the wait a bit better. She lavished a soul searing kiss on him as her tongue moved within his mouth. He knew that she must not have had much practice as once in a while her teeth knocked against his, but he didn't care, he loved it even more because she was utterly his.  
  
Her kiss overcame him, and before he could stop himself, he was fighting to reverse it as he forced his tongue at her. He held her down, pushed down against her, with fervency he had never before witnessed. He knew that if he didn't stop soon, he would take this further than he ever had, and he abandoned himself to it. His hands slid down, playing with the edges of the now loosely wound blanket, and before he could stop himself he slid a hand in touching her skin. She gasped and moaned and it was as though a bucket of cold water had hit him. He jumped away and scrambled off the bed.  
  
"No James!" she nearly screamed, "No, that's not what I meant! You weren't hurting me! Don't stop! God, why did you stop?"  
  
He didn't turn to face her but looked at the ground. "I told you I loved you, I meant it. I know you haven't done this before, and frankly neither have I. But I love you, and in truly loving you, I have to protect you. Even from myself." He said this almost angrily, as though he wanted to throttle someone.  
  
He could hear Lily opening and closing her mouth, as though cutting off pleads towards him every other second. Finally, silence fell and he made to return the kettle and teacups to where he had found them. He picked up her garments which were now dry and folded them before neatly carrying them towards her.  
  
"James- I--" before she could continue however, he cut in.  
  
"Lily, darling," when he said it this time, it was not with any hint of a joke, "please, get dressed, then say whatever it is you were going to say. I'm only so strong."  
  
He heard her laugh, but she took her clothes from him just the same, and this time, he promptly turned his back.  
  
When she had dressed she walked towards him, holding the blanket she had wrapped herself in, out towards him. "I was just going to say, that I respect you, more than you could ever know. And I believe you, I really do. And that every fiber of my being wants you, although I'm not quite sure what that means or how. You are not what I claimed you to be, and to tell you the truth, I have always envied the girls you were nice to. You gave me such a hard time, I just, returned it back to you threefold." She said this almost helplessly and he laughed as he took the blanket from her and pressed a kiss to her forehead.  
  
He placed the blanket back where he had found it, took one more sweep of the room to right it, straightened the bed, and walked towards her. He extended his hand to her and said, "This or you'll be my sack of potatoes."  
  
A peel of laughter broke through her still swollen lips as they made to leave. When they reached the door, he paused, "You really do, just swim in the cold? How come I've never seen you?"  
  
"I usually do it early in the morning, and you, I've noticed, are not an extra-early riser." He laughed and they walked towards the castle.  
  
They snuck in, and thankfully, reached the portrait of the fat lady unnoticed. They had been silent up until this point.  
  
"Allow me," he offered, and then said, "Rosa Lutea."  
  
"That's so pretty sounding, I wondered what it meant."  
  
"I chose it, it means white rose." He said somewhat embarrassed.  
  
She looked at him slightly surprised, "But, I absolutely love white--"  
  
He cut in and said simply "I know.'  
  
He led her through the passage into the empty Gryffindor Common room. He didn't want to know that it was roughly three in the morning.  
  
"Lily. Don't think, ill of me, after tonight. My feelings won't have changed." He looked at her, somewhat embarrassed to be in this place, that he never thought he would be, holding her hand.  
  
"James Potter, I thought you were arrogant?" She smiled at him and his back straightened a bit. "Now come here," she beckoned.  
  
He leaned in and she tiptoed up to place a kiss on HIS forehead. He laughed and hugged her close.  
  
"James?" she said.  
  
"Mmm?" he replied, feeling too perfect at this moment to muster much else.  
  
"I think I-- love you too," she said slowly and his heart skipped to his throat. "I'm not sure how yet, but the kindness and goodness you have shown me tonight, is more than I would have ever expected from any boy. Let alone the star quidditch player, with fly away hair and a constant smile. I used to like you, you know, before I thought you were so cruel. You are mean to well, Snape, but-I think I love you any how."  
  
He couldn't think to ask how, or when, or why. He could only lift her up and kiss her soundly, then whirl her around in a circle.  
  
She laughed with delight, "James! Shh! Let's go to bed!"  
  
He grinned, "Well if you insist--" and linked his arm in hers and made towards the stairs leading towards the boy's dorms. "Less giggly girls up here to embarrass you, Sweet."  
  
She slapped at him playfully and broke their arm rings. "Hah! You wish."  
  
He laughed, "No, you do though."  
  
Her face reddened but she laughed. "Good night James. Tell me I'll see you tomorrow?"  
  
"Of course you will, Pet, I'm not going anywhere. And you'd better not think to either. Because now that you've given me more than a glimmer of hope, and let me taste those ravishing lips, there is nothing in this world I wouldn't do find you, or keep you, or protect you." He said this so earnestly that he felt his heart jump to his throat again.  
  
She kissed his shoulder and moved to hold him close, "I'm glad to hear it." She held his hand and pulled away a minute or so later, and with a true effort made to leave. "Love you," she whispered, still awed by the novelty of his actually having pined for her these years.  
  
"Love you," he said as he raised the hand he still held of hers, up to his mouth and placed a light kiss on it.  
  
She smiled and turned to leave, and he helped her along by smacking her bottom. He fell into a cushy chair in the common room when she had left, and sat with wonder. It seemed hours more before he finally found his bed, feeling more full and perfect than he ever had. 


End file.
